Standing up against gun violence

February 23, 2018

Photo Courtesy of Politicus USA

On February 14, 17 people were killed and 14 injured after a former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Nikolas Cruz, opened fire in the hallways armed with a semi-automatic rifle. After students had to experience this horrendous event, they have taken this platform to speak out to politicians and the NRA about their views on gun violence.

Emma Gonzales, a student at the high school, said in her speech “We are going to be the kids that you read about in textbooks. Not because we are going to be another statistic about mass shootings in America, but because we are going to be the last mass shooting. We are going to change the law.” Student survivors like Gonzales are speaking out on Twitter, responding to politicians tweets, students have also done walkouts during school in attempt to stand up against gun violence.

One student tweeted, “I was hiding in a closet for 2 hours. It was about guns. You weren’t there, you don’t know how it felt. This IS about guns and this is about all the people who had their life abruptly ended because of guns.” Tweets like these have gotten a lot of attention from the community and politicians. Twitter is a huge media outlet, and victims are using this to their advantage in attempt to make their voices heard.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., does support gun violence restraining-order laws, which would allow for firearms to be confiscated before a person would commit a violent act. The laws have been gaining more support after the horrific shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Taylar Tramil, a student at Monmouth College, said “People are tired, people aren’t getting what they need. We don’t feel safe anymore. We don’t feel safe in our schools, which should be a safe place.” Even though this shooting occurred in Florida, students like Tramil are fearful. “Education is such an important thing, and for students to be put in such a dysfunctional state, is a large problem. It shouldn’t be happening.”

Student survivors are going to continue to be consistent in their efforts to make their voices heard, and won’t stop until something is done. As Gonzales stated, once again, “We are going to be the last mass shooting. We are going to change the law.”